Battle of Beings
by purpleeyednekoyoukai
Summary: OCs, bad guys, diabolical plots, general almost doomsday occurances, most-mebbe all-of the Beyblade cast; throw in some romance, drama, possibly teen angst, mix and get ready for a mess.
1. Arc One Hullo There

Battle of Beings  
Arc One: Intros  
Chapter One: Hullo There

"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
/Talking in a different way than normal (i.e. telepathisis, etc.)/  
-x-x-x-x- Beginning/End  
0x0x0x0 Scene change

Warnings:  
-Massive amounts of Ocs  
-Some blood/gore/fighting  
-Cursing. Lotsa, lotsa cursing  
-There are a lot of long paragraphs, mostly in chapter one

OC # One: Zuki  
15, Shifter, first of the Beings in the "experiment" (sounds worse than it is, I promise)

-x-x-x-x-

I sighed as I slowly shifted into my usual cat form: a small, black house cat with silver eyes and various grey markings. I could swear I sensed another Being nearby and it was an unfamiliar, although not entirely hostile, signature. Stretching quietly to get the kinks out of my spine, I kneaded the ground beneath my newly formed claws as I let out a yawn.

Deciding I was now limber enough to perform a daily exercise of mine, I cautiously stuck my head out of the alleyway, hoping to adjust my eyes to the light before I attempted an all out sprint down main street, through the crowds, vendors and cars. As my eyes finished their slow but sure adjustment, I noticed a boy with pinkish-red hair and blue eyes gazing down at me as he passed. I shivered, willing to admit the iciness of his eyes was enough to unnerve even me. Coupled with the fact that his gaze held an awful lot of suspicion in it, I figured I had just found the other Being.

As I began my exercise, I streaked past him, catching a whiff of his scent. It only prompted me to increase my pace: he was a werewolf. The sound of feet hitting the pavement in a rhythm similar to my own proved that I was being pursued. My instincts as a cat directed me to the nearby park and down the tree and bush lined but lesser used path. I had no time to really plan out my route, so I decided to let the instincts guide me and increased my pace yet again as the footsteps drew nearer.

My instincts then directed me towards a clump of bushes and I dove in without hesitating, not even pausing when the thorns of wild rose bushes pierced and tore at my skin through my coating of fur. It seemed that the outer wall of spiny foliage had not deterred my follower as the sound of thorns shredding clothes caught my attention. Ignoring my ear swiveling backwards to better catch and analyze the sound, I leaped out from the patch of bushes to skid into a small clearing. I darted behind its occupant, only noting after my mad dash ceased that what was between me and my hunter was not a normal human but a neko-jin. I lashed my tail and hissed angrily as the person who chased me skidded into the clearing, stopping when they saw the neko-jin.

"Out of my way, Kon." The pinkish haired person growled. I think they, despite their odd hair color, were male. I mentally smacked myself as I remembered that while a cat, unlike a dog, could see color, their perception of the color red was rather distorted compared to say, a human's. Or in my case, a Shifter's.

"Are you that bored that you have to resort to picking on defenseless animals, Tala?" The one called "Kon" snarled back, his hands clenching into fists. I crouched, tail lashing, claws unsheathed and ears flat as I sensed more neko-jin arriving behind me. A mixed group of Beings that included another Shifter approached from behind the red headed boy.

"What kind of cat has silver eyes?" The one called "Tala" hissed back as the mixed group stood behind him; the neko-jin were all standing behind the one known as "Kon". I tensed, my tail lashing a bit more in my agitation. This werewolf knew a bit more than he ought to.

"I'm a human and I have golden eyes." Kon shot back, his golden orbs flashing. I blinked, tilting my head to the side as I could have sworn I saw lightning dancing in their depths.

"You're not human." Tala hissed. I sighed mentally: he did know entirely too much. "You're just some cat freak." Then again, perhaps not. I narrowed my eyes and Shifted back to my normal form.

"Shut up, werewolf." I shot back as I stepped out from behind Kon. Everyone in the clearing froze and Tala blanched. I noted this but did not comment as I turned to speak to the neko-jin.

"Sorry about that. All cats know instinctively that neko-jin will protect them and when I'm in cat form, I have the instincts of a cat." I murmured.

"What are neko-jin, exactly?" Asked one of the other neko-jin. This one had pink hair and I was reasonably sure she was a female.

"They're pretty much a hybrid of cats and humans but have the greatest traits of both." I explained, keeping a close eye on the pale werewolf out of the corner of my eye.

The mixed group of Beings was leaving and I blinked, startled. Were they not his pack? It was not common to find a werewolf who's pack was not other werewolves but it was not entirely unheard of either. The werewolf left without saying a word; his path differed from the one taken by the group.

'Odd...' I frowned before shrugging. "Nonetheless, thank you. I must be going on, however, and will try to avoid dragging you into such confrontations in the future." I nodded to the group of neko-jin and Shifted into a black house cat once more, darting off down the street towards the building I called home.

I shifted to my human form once inside the building and yawned, stretching, as I strolled down the hallway, trying not to gaze down at the stark red carpet with a golden trim. It hurt my eyes normally but after seeing a dulled, hazy and muted red-pink in place of all reds was only making it worse. Fleeing from the torture inflicted upon my eyes, I slipped inside the stark but less eye-smarting cafeteria. It was designed much like a human school's cafeteria and I guess I liked it, as I would never get the chance to go inside one, let alone a normal school.

I caught the tray tossed to me by an angel ahead of me in line, and slowly drifted through, grabbing whatever struck my fancy. Then, as per usual, I headed to the darker side of the cafeteria to sink down into an empty circular table. At one point or another I had been friends with every Being here in this building.

I was the first person...Being...here and it had been on my request that the Boss began this little venture. It was loads of fun at first. I would help Beings out of whatever sticky situation they were in and take them here, so they could have a better life. They would get a place to stay, food, friends and have a shot at learning to control their powers. Once enough Beings were gathered here, though, they separated from each other and me according to what they were.

All the werewolves here were in one group. The angels were in their own; the fallens had their own group as well. There were groups of half-vampires, half-werewolves and full vampyres too. The spell casters, the healers, the teles, the empaths, the part-beasts, the mythical creatures...they all had their little groups formed. The mythical creatures', spellcasters', the teles' and the part-beasts' were even further divided by what type of part-beast, mythical creature, part mythical creature, spell caster or tele one was.

I was alone. I was here first and I had yet to come across another Shifter. Well, as of today, that was not entirely true, but I doubted he would ever come close enough for me to explain what he was, let alone talk to him now. Unless a Being knows about their talents, latent or not, they have a tendency to fear Beings as a regular human would. Digging into my food without much gusto, I boredly consumed the it. I wondered, not for the first time, if it would be more appetizing if I had someone to talk to while I munched on it. Shoving the thought away, as my chances of this ever happening were slim, I threw away my trash and placed my tray on the cleaning rack. Smothering a storm of yawns, I headed off to my room.

After going another round with the carpet, I turned the doorknob and entered my stronghold. A comfortable but colorful mess of furniture and designs stared back at me as I slipped inside and closed the door tightly behind me. I sank into my blue bean bag chair, wondering absently how I could have designed my room to have all these different colors yet still be pleasing to the eye. This brought forth the point that as I had lived here for a while, I could easily just have learned to tune out the clashing of my semi-eye smarting colors. Giving up the debate, I climbed onto my windowsill turned bed and sprawled myself across it, relaxing. Glancing up at the source of the white light streaming through the window showed me that it was a few days before the full moon.

0x0x0x0

Two more days passed with boring uniformity, as I had not run into any other Beings besides the ones I already knew. The actual night of the full moon found me, in my usual form for a change, jogging down main street. Noting that it was deserted, I smiled a bit; this was the way I liked it. Nothing was here, save the wind, which was blowing a few stray papers to and fro, and the moon, which was providing the light I needed to see with my weak human eyes.

Wondering if I should chance shifting in the open so I could wander around the park prompted me to meander towards it without having made a decision. As I approached, I sensed a Being. The signal this one gave off, though, was drenched with pain. I knew of only one Being that could be in this much pain during a full moon and gave my own safety no thought as I raced through the park towards the origin of the signal.

I entered the clearing which the confrontation had occurred in to find the werewolf lying on the ground, bathed in moonlight, as his transformation was beginning. I stepped out of the bushes, forgetting about the telltale whisper of leaves on clothing. The icy-eyed male's attention was drawn to me and I was startled to find his eyes no longer icy but pain-glazed. As I stepped forward, his entire frame shook as he cried out.

"G-go..." He managed out weakly as his body fell limp against the ground, his breath coming in harsh pants. I ignored him and came closer as another spasm shook him; I was startled to notice that he was ill. His skin was flushed and he looked exhausted. Another sharp cry of pain reminded me that, despite the fact that he was in trouble, he was still a werewolf and if I stayed, I would become one too. "...go..." He whispered, trembling. I frowned and still lingered. Suddenly struck with an idea, I began to shift as his transformation began. "No..." I heard his soft, mournful whisper as he turned to face me, lengthening fangs bared.

/I'm in wolf form./ I wagged my tail, pleased with my idea. /Werewolves only have the urge to bite humans, right? I'm not in human form, so it should take away the problem./ My tail, regardless of what I told it, wagged again as he fell, his legs collapsing out from under him. A soft whimper as I came closer told me what words could not: he had been seriously harmed by even just partially transforming while bathed in moonlight. I nudged him gently with my nose; his head raised a few inches to look at me but other than that, he looked utterly spent. /I'm gonna take you some place safe, okay? Boss should know what to do.../ I knelt down as he cried out again, his eyes terrible. /If you can, I need you grab onto me. I can take you to the Boss like this and you won't bite me./ The tiniest of nods was all I caught before I had to suppress the urge to bite him as he began to tug on my thick fur.

"Sorry." He murmured weakly as he struggled.

/It's alright./ I replied, wincing as he tugged out a patch of fur. That was **definitely** going to hurt come morning. When he was finally precariously balanced on my back, I dashed off towards home, trying to jostle him as little as possible. Sticking to the shadows and using the quickest route home proved to be a challenge as well, but I think I did my best, all things considering. He had just begun the second stage of his transformation when I slipped inside my home; the Boss, silhouetted when out of his office, stood there as well as a few others. The partial-wolf's eyes widened and took a panicked look even as he snarled at them. /I've got this! Just get out of my way!/ I growled to accent the fact that if any one save the Boss got involved, it would be ME they had to worry about being bitten by.

Everyone in the entrance hall scattered to warn the others as well as get lost while I hurriedly chased my shadow down the hallway to the wing my room was in. I figured that since he had no pack, the other werewolves would not be too accepting of him. If he had a room near mine, at least I could help him if he needed me. I barked angrily at the doorknob and it turned, the door swinging open as my door turned an angry red.

I carted the boy in and somehow managed to get him on the bed before closing the door tightly. He finished transforming under the cover of darkness, amidst a chorus of whimpers, growls and almost-human cries of pain. I approached the bed when the noise stopped, my pads making no sound on the carpeted floor. A pair of blue eyes stared at me from the darkness that shrouded the former humanoid boy on the bed; I cocked my head to the side, having known that it was rare for real wolves, let alone werewolves, to retain their blue eye color.

/Are you alright?/ I questioned quietly; the male wolf merely closed his eyes, a soft huff-ing sound escaping his throat as he breathed. I wolf-frowned, not pleased that he had partially transformed in moonlight, let alone while sick.

For werewolves, transforming in moonlight while completely well could prove fatal. I decided to give him some space and curled up by the wall near the door; some time later, I shot to my feet as the doorknob moved. A boy with darker hair, lighter eyes and a rather large nose peered in, looking like he was trying to mask fear by appearing angry. I allowed him to enter.

/Sit against the wall./ I commanded and curled up in front of him, ready to stop the werewolf if he came near; he merely curled up in a tighter ball on the bed, a quiet whimper of pain escaping him. The full moon had begun to wane when the doorknob rattle again; this time, though, the door was almost knocked off its hinges and in tumbled two rather tall boys and a shorter but not less muscular looking one. I froze, about to panic, when I heard the soft whimper again. /The transformation's reversing.../

"Transformation...?" The first boy murmured quietly but hushed as the other three straightened themselves and closed the door. I winced and tried to cover my ears with my paws to shut out the sound of the writhing boy on the bed; I knew from a prior encounter with a werewolf that the pain must have been unbearable. After about forty-five minutes of pained cries and thrashing around, all sound came to a halt. I cautiously peered up at him to find, gratefully, that the sheet had become entangled around his bare body during his thrashing. Sighing in relief mentally, I slipped out of the room to fetch a potion that would ease his pain. I reentered to find the group of four boys, who I re-identified as the mixed group of Beings from earlier, talking quietly.

/Are you four alright?/ I inquired as I quickly shifted to human form and took the potion container out of my mouth. Four nods were my reply, although their eyes told me they were all bothered by something. Movement from the bed reminded me why I still stood there and I approached, placing the potion on his bedside table.

"What's that?" the purple haired one asked.

"Before I reply, how about introductions and I explain what happened?" A nod from the one who had had tattoos of some sort on his face that were seen only in my wolf form prompted nods from the other three. "I'm Zuki and I'm a Shifter. I can transform into just about any living thing, except for plant life."

"Kai." The one with the tattoos stated.

"Hm, you're at least part phoenix..." I commented as his signature flickered with unease.

"What?" He growled.

"Yep. All of you are one being or another. Most good beybladers are...that guy...Brooklyn...he's a fallen angel. His bitbeast didn't give him those wings; it merely allowed him to summon them without having to find out what he really is." I explained.

"Ian." Came the statement from the boy with the darker hair.

"You're a Shifter, like me." I assessed, shrugging.

"Cool." He muttered.

"Bryan." Came the flat murmur.

I nodded. "Part falcon."

"Spencer." Was the last reply.

"I'm not too sure about you..." I mumbled, thinking. His signature seemed familiar but I couldn't place it.

"So what happened...?" Ian murmured.

"Well, a werewolf transforms once a month and the transformation is triggered by the full moon. If a werewolf transforms while in direct contact with moonlight, they can be seriously harmed, although your friend--I believe the neko-jin in the clearing called him Tala--should be okay, as he didn't completely transform in the moonlight." I replied quietly, noting all of them stiffening when I said his name. "Sorry. I never really bothered to learn honorifics."

"It's our fault..." Ian mumbled quietly.

"What is?" I questioned, confused.

"We abandoned him after we found out and..."

"It rained yesterday." Bryan added.

"When he's ill, he has the tendency to not want to move at all." Was Spencer's input; I nodded.

"Guys, I think he'll just be glad that you came back." I commented as Tala began to shift on the bed. With a soft sigh, I imagined a comfortable but not too heavy quilt appearing on him; all four jumped when a quilt appeared on top of Tala. "You can imagine anything you want here and it'll happen...do you guys wanna stay here with him or pick out your own rooms?"

"Here." They all replied; I nodded.

"If you guys wanna get cleaned up, bathroom's there," I gestured at it. "I'm next door. Mine's the one that's currently red." I nodded a goodnight before hurrying into my room and getting cleaned up. Yawning tiredly, I slipped on a pair of loose sweatpants and an overlarge shirt before literally falling into my bed. I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

0x0x0x0

I turned over to smack my face on the side of my bed; hissing softly in pain, I rolled in the opposite direction to find that I had fallen off my bed sometime during the night. I sat up carefully while testing my nose and the other sore parts of my face to make sure nothing was broken. What felt like liquid fire dripped from my nose as it began to throb; I looked down to find my hands drenched in blood.

-x-x-x-x-

Sorry, gotta end in a cliffie.

This will be updated whenever possible.

Catcha later.  
Emma


	2. Arc One Oh Shit

Battle of Beings  
Arc One: Intros  
Chapter Two: Oh Shit

"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
/Talking in a way different than normal (i.e. telepathisis, etc.)/  
-x-x-x-x- Beginning/End  
0x0x0x0 Scene change

Warnings:  
-Massive amounts of Ocs  
-Some blood/gore/fighting  
-Cursing. Lotsa, lotsa cursing  
-There are a lot of long paragraphs, mostly in chapter one

OC #1: Zuki  
15, Shifter, first of the Beings in the "experiment" (sounds worse than it is, I promise)

OC #2: Hotaru  
15, Healer, one of the first eight in the "experiment"

-x-x-x-x-

"Damn." I hissed quietly as my nose gave a particularly nasty throb. I jumped and winced as my door was opened by a Healer, who covered their mouth to stifle a scream. "I'm fine...I just broke my nose." She walked over, closing the door behind her.

"This may hurt a bit." She murmured quietly before setting my nose; I bit my lip until it bled to keep from bothering anyone in the next room with a scream as the cartilage grated. "Heal." She commanded it and the blood I felt sliding down vanished as I felt tears in my nose slowly close themselves.

"Thank you." I mumbled, making to stand, only to find her hoisting me to my feet. That's when I remembered that she was one of the original eight of us who pretty much started this "operation". "Hey Hotaru."

"Finally recognized me, huh?" She replied, grinning kiddingly as we entered my bathroom and turned on the sink to wash off the blood. I nodded.

"On a more serious note, how's that werewolf?"

"I just woke up, so I haven't gotten in to check on him yet." I mumbled as she grabbed my arm and pulled up my sleeve to reveal one of the cuts from four days ago. It was now infected; I gave a sheepish laugh as she healed all the infected cuts on my body. "Thank you."

"Not a problem." She replied, giving me a flat look.

"I know, I know." I grumbled as I finished cleaning off my coating of blood. We returned to my room as I changed into jeans and a tank top, stretching and yawning afterwards. "Hey, will you come in with me? I know what Beings all but one of them is...the one I can't figure out's signature is familiar, but I can't place it."

"Sure." Hotaru replied, shrugging. "Not like anything else is going on."

"When you're right, you're right." I agreed as I led the way. I knocked softly and the door was opened by Ian.

"Who's she?" He asked, eyes mistrustful.

"Ian, this is Hotaru. She's a Healer." I explained.

"Nice to meet you." She nodded. "I'm generally delegated to heal whatever wounds are in my jurisdiction, and this hall happens to be one."

"It only counts because I have a tendency to be injured easily." I grumbled as Ian moved aside to let us in.

"What do you mean?" He wondered aloud as Bryan, Kai and Spencer looked up at us.

"Well, as a Shifter, my skeletal structure under goes a lot of changes and it makes my bones a bit less dense than the average human's when I'm in human form. I just broke my nose this morning because I fell off my bed and rolled into the side of it." I explained as Hotaru nodded.

"That's why I'm here." She verified. "That, and I figured I should introduce myself if any of you are planning in residing here, let alone in this wing." The three conscious boys yet to be introduced stayed silent. "My name is Hotaru and I'm the senior Healer here."

"Senior anything means they're one of the original eight." I added.

"Well, in that case, you're Senior Senior, since you were the first one here." Hotaru grinned.

"Quit picking on me and see if anyone's injured." I grumbled, crossing my arms in annoyance.

"How long have you guys been here?" It seemed Ian was the most vocal of the group.

"Since I was about eight." I muttered, uncrossing my arms.

"I've been here since I was about ten." Hotaru acknowledged as she approached Ian. "Are you hurt anywhere?" He shook his head, so she turned to the three who were watching her with barely contained malice in their eyes.

"Guys, she's NOT a doctor." Ian stated.

"Don't most Beings who live as humans LIKE doctors?" Hotaru questioned, probably a bit confused; I sighed.

I shrugged. "I never did...Then again, that's probably because I was nearly always there, needing a cast or stitches of some sort."

"Fine." Kai growled and allowed Hotaru to come closer; she inquired about wounds and he shook his head. The other two watched her with evident distrust but allowed her to question them.

"What on earth happened to him?" She squeaked when she saw Tala.

"He was originally unwell and then partially transformed in the moonlight." I supplied as I cautiously drew closer. A soft groan of pain met our ears as he stirred, slowly drifting towards consciousness.

"You do have a pain-numbing potion, right?" Hotaru questioned; I gestured at the purple-ish potion on the bedside table. "Alright. I'm going to go get the Healer who specializes with werewolves...it looks like this guy's gonna need it." She swept from the room, probably feeling ill.

"That was an abrupt exit." Ian muttered.

"Well, most Healers can feel the physical pain of someone near them. Tala's probably very sore and it might be making her queasy." I explained as I joined him near the door.

"What's with you?" Kai demanded to know.

"I dunno about you, but I doubt any guy likes to be stared at when all they have covering them is a sheet tangled around their private area, particularly when the one staring is of the opposite sex." I rattled out boredly and they spun to find that the quilt had been knocked off sometime during the night. I left the room and stood outside the door as the four carefully clothed him. Ian opened the door and motioned me in when they were still in progress. I blinked, wondering why, when he pushed me over to the bed and my eyes widened when I saw the bruises all over his chest and back. "What the hell happened?!" I barely remembered to lower my voice so as not to wake him.

"It looks like someone beat him..." Ian mumbled mournfully as they slipped a shirt on him.

"A human did that." I murmured after scrutinizing the wounds. "Sick bastards." I muttered in an undertone, my eyes going slit-pupiled as I turned and walked to the door. "The next person to probably come here will most likely be Carina, as she is the more experienced of the two Healers who specialize in werewolves." I swept from the room, bypassing the cafeteria to head outside.

0x0x0x0

It was time to find the neko-jin from four days ago and see if they would be willing to aid my cause. I slipped into an alleyway, shifting quickly into my cat form and dashing off, looking for their scent trails. I knew a dog would have been much easier to track with but people tended to bother dogs more than they did cats and I wanted this done as quickly as possible. My search eventually led me to a dojo in the suburbs; it was quite a run, let alone a walk, from my home. I slunk in through the front gate to find the one called Kon and a boy who was at least part dragon battling one another in the bey stadium.

/Neko-jin!/ Everyone who was watching froze in shock, gaping at me. /I do not have time for theatrics here, people. Someone beat Tala and I intend to find out who it was./

"And you want me to help?" He inquired, the beybattle all but forgotten.

/If at all possible, yes. The bruises whoever they were inflicted are rather large for a human assailant and I fear they might have struck him with something made of silver...or at least coated in it./ I explained, unwilling to alarm his friends with this little detail.

"You make it sound like Tala's a werewolf." The part-dragon growled, anger filling his signature rapidly.

/That's because he is. Almost all beybladers who are in the top leagues aren't human./ I shot him a rather annoyed look. /You yourself are part dragon, boy, so don't take that arch tone with me./ I growled, and sprang aside to dodge a kendo stick.

"How do you know of this?" Came an old dragon's growl.

/I am a Shifter./ I stated, closing my eyes and turning to my human form. "Is that proof enough?" I inquired, ignoring the wide-eyed stares.

"More than." The old dragon stated, ignoring the stares of everyone on him now. "Who could actually manage to beat up a werewolf if they were human?"

"Add in the words "already weakened" and "on the day of the full moon" and you've got about what happened." I replied. "I'm hoping to at least find out who did this and why."

"Where are they now?" The part-dragon asked.

"They're in a very safe place. Almost one hundred other Beings are occupying the same building as them and all know how to defend themselves and others, so they'll be fine."

"They?" A girl with brunette colored hair and red eyes questioned.

"Kai, Bryan, Spencer, Ian and Tala." I stated.

"Can all of us come with you?" A timid sounding boy with blonde hair and blue eyes asked.

"I guess." I muttered, shrugging. "No one save the Beings with him right now will be able to see him until he gets better, though. Even I know he ought to be resting and I get the impression that the Senior Healer is going to have to stick her oar in..."

"Who are you?" The old dragon's eyes narrowed.

"I am Zuki." I stated calmly. "I believe you know the Boss."

"So you're the Shifter he originally took under his wing..." He murmured. "In that case, good luck." He then turned and headed back inside the dojo.

"The Boss?" A boy with brown hair and glasses who had a computer on his lap was the one who asked that.

I shrugged. "It's a running joke that's been around for so long I think everyone's forgotten what prompted it...or what it meant."

"So how're we doing this?" Kon questioned.

"Going back to where I found him would be a start." I commented, sighing mentally as I realized I'd have to run all the way back to the park.

0x0x0x0

Forty-five minutes later two of the five neko-jin, the girl with red eyes, the part-dragon, the blonde boy and myself were standing in the clearing where he had been found. I noticed that the blonde boy was trembling like crazy and signaled to the part-dragon to find out what was wrong.

"It's so..." The blonde shivered, looking extremely upset.

"Max, are you okay?" The girl with red eyes asked, placing a hand on his shoulder even as the part-dragon approached. He shook his head no.

"You're probably an empath, then." I murmured. "It's probably best if--"

"We want to see Kai." The part-dragon stated as the others nodded.

"Very well." I acquiesced. "Follow me...and someone hug him or something." I ordered as we left the clearing; the red eyed girl gave him a quick hug. That, combined with the fact that we were leaving the clearing, soothed him.

"I'm Rei." The one I had known as Kon stated.

I nodded to him. "Nice to meet you."

"I'm Mariah." The pink haired neko-jin stated; I nodded again.

"I'm Tyson, this is Max and this is Hilary." The part-dragon stated. The blonde haired boy nodded to me.

"Hi." The girl with red eyes, who was now identified as Hilary, greeted.

"Pleasure." I bowed. "As previously stated, I am Zuki."

"Doesn't that mean moon?" Hilary blinked.

"It does. I suppose it's ironic, actually..." I smiled faintly, amused again.

"Ironic...?"

"Want me to explain?"

"That'd be nice." Hilary glared flatly as I blinked.

"Well, I'm a Shifter. Shifters can turn into any living being, except plant life. The first thing a Shifter becomes, other than their Shifter form and their human form, is a form they become tied to for life. For instance, in my case, my first other form was that of a wolf..."

"Ha, I get it!" Tyson shouted, laughing as the other four sweatdropped; I shook my head as we continued on our way.

"We're here." I acknowledged when we approached the entrance. I led them in, right past the Boss, who I nodded to, and took them to the wing I lived in. "Okay. You guys want Kai, right?" They nodded; I entered and tapped Kai on the shoulder. He spun and I blocked his punch before pointing my thumb over my shoulder at the door. Wordlessly, he left and I winced when I heard someone connect with the floor.

"What's that all about?" Ian asked quietly.

"That Tyson guy and friends wanted to see him." I muttered. "How's he doing?"

"He woke up once." Spencer murmured. "But he tried to move and passed out."

"Most likely from pain...did the Healer ever show up?"

"She did." Ian mumbled. "But she didn't manage to heal too much..."

"The other werewolves here probably caused a mess last night..." I sighed and jumped when he began to stir a bit. "I'm kinda jumpy, so if you guys decide to stick around and you come up behind me for whatever reason, I'll probably jump out of my skin..." Ian smirked and had a look on his face that just screamed evil. Bryan and Spencer said nothing but I could tell they were probably thinking I was an idiot.

"Wha..." Came the weak whisper from the bed; his eyes were slowly opening and closing. Judging from the expressions on the other three's faces, I guessed they were alarmed by how weak he was. They left the room quickly, most likely shaken. "You." He moved and I was slightly alarmed myself by how much pain it caused him. I picked the potion up and looped my arm around his shoulders, easing him into a sitting position as I had him drink the potion. "What was that?! Are you trying to--" Tala broke off abruptly when the potion began working, as I had predicted.

"Feel better?" I questioned as he cautiously tested his muscles by moving his arms. "I wouldn't really recommend attempting to move around until a Healer can actually tend to most of your wounds." I then realized my arm was still around his shoulders and hastily tried to move it when he exhaustedly rested his head on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Whenever someone saves the life of a werewolf, they basically belong to that person." Tala ground out as he fought to move his head.

"The only person you belong to is yourself." I returned, annoyed; he stared at me. "At the risk of sounding cliché, you are your own person." His head nodded but he appeared to be feeling conflicting emotions. "Damn!" I burst out when realization hit me.

"What?" He murmured, still trying to move.

"I have a curse on me and it passes over to you in this situation..." I frowned when Tala went completely slack.

"...what curse?" His voice was so quiet I barely heard him.

"It affects my emotions. I always feel two or more at once." I admitted quietly as I took the black beaded bracelet I wore off my wrist. "This should help ward off the curses effects." I slipped it around his wrist.

"What about you?" Tala seemed surprised that I would do this for someone I barely knew.

"Recently I've learned to almost shrug it off unless it gets pretty bad." I shrugged as he eyed the floor. "Look, I don't know if you've--"

"I have been tied to someone before." Tala's face was now closed off, although I could see the pain in his eyes.

"Judging from your eyes, it wasn't a pleasant experience." I added quietly and felt him stiffen.

"How could you--" The redhead broke off, looking down.

"I'm not going to do what whoever you were tied to before did." I informed him. "I have no intention of making you do things you don't want to, although visits to the Healer if you're sick or injured will be an issue if you don't want to go."

"That's it?" His now-icy eyes mocked me.

"If I do make you do something, it'll be something I'd get anyone to do: go to the Healer's if they're sick, eat a bit healthier, get more sleep or something along those lines." I shrugged. "That's about it."

"So good to know I've been tied to a mother hen." He snarled; I placed him back down and walked out before I did something I would regret.

"You deal with sour puss." I growled as I stormed to my room, past the group in the hall; entering my room, I found Hotaru waiting for me. "Yes?" I growled, in no mood to be polite.

"You're in a good mood." She commented idly. "I think the last boy is an empath."

"Jeez. We've got two empaths out in the hall, then." I sighed, defused for a moment. Hotaru has a knack for that, which is good considering how easily I can be set off.

"Two?" She looked up from the article I had begun to write out of sheer boredom a few days before this all began.

"The blonde and the boy from before." I supplied before rescuing my incomplete article. "And no one gets to read that before it's done, thank you."

"Fair enough." Remarked the never-ruffled Hotaru. "I'll go see about...sour puss, was it?"

"Get out." I pointed at the door but she could tell I was kidding.

"I'll be baaaack." She threatened/promised as she left. I stared at the door for a few moments before pulling out my book on werewolves from my personal library. I dug through the "Weapons to Injure" section and looked for marks that matched the ones I had seen on said sour puss's chest. I was about to give up when one caught my eye: it said "silverwhipping". I frowned and read the caption.

_"Of all the methods used to torture werewolves, the most painful and easiest is silverwhipping. All one needs is a silver chain or something that can be flailed at a werewolf with silver on it. This method, more so than all others, is usually fatal. If not treated within a week, it normally is. This type of beating can be administered by any Being, although the most common perpetrators are humans, as other Beings have far more creative ways of doing such things."_

-x-x-x-x-

...poor, poor Tala. How I torture him so.

Ah well...

I will post whenever I manage to type the rest of this thing up...which could take a bit.  
Emma


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